Blood and parenteral solutions are commonly stored in flexible, collapsible bags so that they may be dispensed in a sterile manner without the necessity of introducing air into the container interior.
Particularly in the case of blood bags, it is desirable to provide a means for the retention of sample tubes in physically attached relation to the blood bag, to facilitate blood typing operations and to avoid the accidental switching of sample tubes or mislaying them. The common retention means which has been used is as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,079,920, comprising slit members in a peripheral flange on the blood bag. The sealed donor tubing and/or rigid sample tubes may be used as the carriers of blood samples.
In blow molded, collapsible containers for parenteral solutions, blood, and the like, it has been found to be inconvenient to mold on the container a lateral flange having slit members. Such an operation tends to result in an increased number of rejects, and requires complex molds and an increased cost.
Accordingly, the invention of this application provides integral means for carrying sample tubes of either the rigid type, or flexible donor tubing, on a plastic bag. As particular advantages, the sample tube carrying means of this invention are highly compatible with blow molding, and in general provide improved convenience of use in attaching and detaching sample tubes from a plastic container.